Price fluctuations for Bitcoin and the entire crypto market propelled by US CPI announcements had disappeared in recent months, but that trend changed earlier today.
After the world’s largest economy showed a higher-than-expected inflation increase, BTC went on a wild ride in hours, leaving nearly $300 million in liquidations.
The Consumer Price Index for March showed an increase of 3.5% for March 2024 compared to the same month a year ago. This actually means a higher number that the one for February.
The core CPI, which excludes more volatile sectors like energy and food, surged as well by 3.8% from last March.
Both of these numbers were actually larger than the general expectations, which leads to speculation on what the US Federal Reserve will do next in its battle against inflation.
This also resulted in more volatility for BTC and the entire crypto market, something that the industry had forgotten.
Bitcoin’s price was already trading in the red on a daily scale, having slipped to $69,000. However, it dumped further after the announcement went out to $67,500 within minutes.
The bulls came back shortly and pushed BTC north by about a grand. Most altcoins followed suit with similar price movements.
This volatility has harmed over-leveraged traders, and the total value of wrecked positions is close to $300 million on a daily scale, according to CoinGlass. More than 100,000 traders have been liquidated in the past day, with the largest order happening on Bybit, which was worth north of $8 million.